System and method for autonomously guiding a vehicle into an oil change bay or a conveyor of an automated car wash

ABSTRACT

A system for autonomously moving and aligning a vehicle with respect to an object fixed to a traveling surface in front of the vehicle includes at least one camera packaged within the vehicle to obtain images of the fixed object. A controller packaged within the vehicle receives the images from the camera and processes the images so as to identify and locate the fixed object with respect to the vehicle. A drive system, connected with the controller, is constructed and arranged to cause autonomous movement, steering and braking of the vehicle. A user input device is constructed and arranged to activate the controller 1) to identify and locate the fixed object relative to the vehicle, and 2) to command the drive system to autonomously move the vehicle towards the fixed object and to stop the vehicle so as to be aligned relative to the fixed object.

FIELD

This disclosure relates to an automotive vehicle and, more particularly,to a system for autonomously guiding the vehicle into an oil change bayor into a conveying car wash.

BACKGROUND

Many vehicle drivers have problems aligning their vehicle when enteringan automated car wash conveyor track, requiring a car wash attendant tomanually guide the driver onto the track, since damage to the vehiclecould result from vehicle misalignment. Furthermore, a similar problemexits in aligning a vehicle when entering a quick oil change bay sincethe vehicle must be guided over an opening or pit in the floor where theworker performs the oil change. Again, an attendant is typically neededfor guiding the driver over the pit since serious damage to the vehiclecan occur if a front or rear wheel of the vehicle accidently enters thepit.

Thus, there is a need to provide a system and method to autonomouslymove and align a vehicle into an oil change bay or into a conveying carwash without the driver operating the steering, acceleration, or brakingof the vehicle and thus, without the need for an attendant.

SUMMARY

An objective of an embodiment is to fulfill the need referred to above.In accordance with the principles of an embodiment, this objective isobtained by providing a system for autonomously moving and aligning avehicle with respect to an object fixed to a traveling surface in frontof the vehicle. The system includes at least one camera packaged withinthe vehicle and constructed and arranged to obtain images of the fixedobject, such as a car wash conveyor or track or an oil change bay pit. Acontroller, packaged within the vehicle, is constructed and arranged toreceive the images from the camera and to process the images so as toidentify and locate the fixed object with respect to the vehicle. Adrive system, connected with the controller, is constructed and arrangedto cause autonomous movement, steering and braking of the vehicle. Auser input device is constructed and arranged to activate thecontroller 1) to identify and locate the fixed object relative to thevehicle, and 2) to command the drive system to autonomously move thevehicle towards the fixed object and to stop the vehicle so as to bealigned relative to the fixed object.

In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment, a method is providedfor autonomously moving and aligning a vehicle with respect to an objectfixed to a traveling surface in front of the vehicle. The method obtainsimages of the fixed object from at least one camera mounted on thevehicle. The images are received at a controller of the vehicle. Thecontroller processes the images to identify and locate the fixed objectwith respect to the vehicle. The controller commands a drive system tocause autonomous movement, steering and braking of the vehicle so thatthe vehicle moves towards the fixed object and stops so as to be alignedrelative to the fixed object.

Other objectives, features and characteristics of the present invention,as well as the methods of operation and the functions of the relatedelements of the structure, the combination of parts and economics ofmanufacture will become more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description and appended claims with reference to theaccompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood from the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiments thereof, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer tolike parts, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary vehicle having a system forguiding a vehicle into position relative to a fixed carwash conveyortrack in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an exemplary vehicle having the systemof FIG. 2 for guiding a vehicle into position over a fixed framestructure defining a pit in an oil change bay in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of method steps of an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIG. 1, a vehicle, generally indicated at 10, hassystem 12 for autonomously guiding a vehicle into a position relative toan object fixed to the travel surface 13 in front of the vehicle 10, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. The vehicle 10 includesfront tires 14 and rear tires 16. Each tire (14,16) includes a wheelportion 18 and an adjacent tire surface 20. The wheel portion 18 isdefined to include the wheel, wheel rim, hub cap, or other decorativewheel covering.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the fixed object is a conveyor structure,generally indicated at 22, of an automated conveyor car wash system fordirecting and moving the vehicle 10 through the car wash. FIG. 1 shows avehicle 10 approaching the conveyor structure 22 that includes acorrelator section 23 that aids in correctly positioning at least thedriver-side front tire 14 of the vehicle 10 within or on the track 25 ofconveyor structure 22. Correlator guide rails 24 and support rails 26rotate axially towards the center of the conveyor structure 22 tocorrectly align the driver-side front tire 14 of the vehicle 10.

In accordance with the embodiment, to avoid the requirement that adriver manually orient a tire 14 and drive the vehicle 10 into theconveyor structure 22, with reference to FIG. 2, the of the vehicle 10is configured to operate autonomously.

Thus, the system 12 includes a sensor system 28 that includes differenttypes of sensors that may be used separately or with one another tocreate a perception of the environment of the vehicle 10. The sensorsystem 28 aids the driver in making intelligent decisions based onobjects and obstacles detected by the sensor system 28 and aids a drivesystem 30 in autonomously maneuvering the vehicle 10. The drive system30 can be an autonomous sense, plan and act system. The sensor system 28may include one or more cameras 32 supported by the vehicle to captureimage signals 34 of the environment surrounding the vehicle 10. In anembodiment, at least one camera 32′ (FIG. 1) is a front facing camerathat is mounted near the front portion of the vehicle 10 to provide aview of the approaching driving path for the vehicle 10. In someexamples, the front camera 32′ is a monocular camera that produces atwo-dimensional image. Other camera types may also be used.

The sensor system 28 also includes at least one of the followingsensors: an Inertial Measurement unit (IMU) 36, steering wheel anglesensors 38, wheel encoders 40, and other sensors 42 such as, but notlimited to, radar, sonar, LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, which canentail optical remote sensing that measures properties of scatteredlight to find range and/or other information of a distant target), LADAR(Laser Detection and Ranging) configured to determine a range, angle, orvelocity of objects. The IMU 36 is configured to measure a linearacceleration of the vehicle 10 (using one or more accelerometers) and arotational rate of the vehicle 10 (using one or more gyroscopes. In someexamples, the IMU 36 also determines a heading reference of the vehicle10. Therefore, the IMU 36 determines the pitch, roll, and yaw of thevehicle 10.

The system 12 includes a user interface 44 that receives one or moreuser commands from the driver via one or more input mechanisms such as atouch screen display 46, a knob or switch, or voice receiver 50 foractivating an autonomous mode of the vehicle 10, as will be describedmore fully below. The user interface 44 is in communication with avehicle controller 47, which is in turn in communication with a sensorsystem 28 and the drive system 30. In some examples, the user interface44 displays an image of an environment of the vehicle 10 (for example,an overhead environment of the vehicle 10) leading to one or morecommands being received by the user interface 44 (from the driver) thatinitiate execution of one or more behaviors.

The system 12 includes the drive system 30 that autonomously maneuversthe vehicle 10 across the travel surface 13 based on drive commands. Thedrive system 30 includes a brake system 52 that includes brakesassociated with each wheel 18, an acceleration system 54 that isconfigured to adjust a speed of the vehicle 10, a steering system 56that controls the steering and thus the direction of the vehicle 10, anda transmission system 57 for controlling which gear the vehicle 10 isoperating in (e.g., park, drive, reverse, neutral).

The controller 47 includes a computing device such as a processorcircuit 58 (e.g., central processing unit having one or more computingprocessors) in communication with a non-transitory memory circuit 60(e.g., a hard disk, flash memory, random-access memory) capable ofstoring instructions executable by the processor circuit 58. The memorycircuit 60 can store other vehicle data such as width of the tire 14,wheel track width, dimensions of conventional fixed objects, etc.

The controller 47 includes a tracking module 61 that receives an imagesignal 34 from at least one camera 32′ and/or a signal 35 from thesensor 42. The tracking module 61 identifies the fixed object (e.g.,conveyor structure 22) within the image signal 34 and/or signal 35 andtracks the conveyor structure 22 in subsequently received images signals34 and/or signals 35. Therefore, the tracking module 61 calculates ordetermines a current location in the current image 34. The conveyorstructure 22 location in the image is defined by (u, v), where u is thepixel position along an x-image axis of the image, and v is the pixelposition along a y-image axis of the image. The tracking module 61 canuse the processor circuit 58 or can have its own processing circuit andcould also be used to determine distance from the vehicle 10 to theconveyor structure 22 and even map the conveyor structure 22 by use ofthe signal 35 from the radar, sonar or LIDAR sensor 42.

A driver, when approaching an automatic carwash, can activate anautonomous carwash mode of the vehicle 10 by using the user interface 44such as the touch screen display 46, knob or switch 48, or a voicecommand received by the voice receiver 50. Then, the controller 47, withprocessor circuit 58 and tracking module 61 executing software stored inthe memory circuit 60, is configured to receive sensed data, for examplefrom at least one camera 32′ and/or radar/sonar/LIDAR sensor 42 toidentify and locate an object fixed on the travel surface 51 in front ofthe vehicle 10, and to control the steering, speed and braking ofvehicle 10 based upon such sensed data. In the example embodiment ofFIG. 1, the tracking module 61 identifies and locates the conveyorstructure 22, as the fixed object, based upon the sensed data. Thememory circuit 60 can also store standard dimensions of the opening ofthe correlator section 23 of the conveyor structure 22 to aid in guidingthe vehicle tire 14 therein. For increased accuracy, portions of theconveyor structure 22 can include markers 62 thereon that are capturedor sensed by the camera 32′ and/or sensor 42. With at least thecorrelator section 23 of the conveyor structure 22 identified andlocated, the controller 47 sends the drive system 30 one or morecommands 64 causing the steering system 56 and acceleration system 54 toautonomously maneuver the vehicle 10 in a forwards direction such that atire 14 engages with the correlator section 23, and once engaged, thebrake system 52 causes the vehicle 10 to stop, aligned with thecorrelator section 23 and thus the conveyor track 25. Thus, due toautonomously maneuvering the vehicle 10 into engagement with theconveyor structure 22, no attendant is needed and driver misalignmenterrors are eliminated.

With reference to FIG. 3, instead of the fixed object being a carwashconveyor structure, the fixed object is generally rectangular framestructure 22′ defining bounds of an open pit 65 in a quick oil changebay. A driver, when approaching the oil change bay, can activate anautonomous oil change bay entry mode of the vehicle 10 by using thetouch screen display 46, knob or switch 48 or a voice command receivedby the voice receiver 50. Then, the controller 47, with processorcircuit 58 and tracking module 61 executing software stored in thememory circuit 60, is configured to receive sensed data, for examplefrom at least the camera 32′ and/or radar/sonar/LIDAR sensor 42 toidentify and locate the frame structure 22′ on the travel surface 51 infront of the vehicle 10, and to control the steering and braking ofvehicle 10 based upon such sensed data. In the example embodiment ofFIG. 3, the tracking module 61 identifies and locates the framestructure 22′, as the fixed object, based upon the sensed data. Thememory circuit 60 can also store standard dimensions of the width W ofthe frame structure 22′ to aid in guiding the vehicle tires 14 so as tobe adjacent opposing sides 66 of the frame structure 22′. For increasedaccuracy, portions of the frame structure 22′ can include markers 62thereon that are captured or sensed by the camera 32′ and/or sensor 42.With frame structure 22′ identified and located, the controller 47 sendsthe drive system 30 one or more commands 64 causing the steering system56 and acceleration system 54 to autonomously maneuver the vehicle 10 ina forwards direction over the frame structure 22′ such that front tires14 of the vehicle 10 are generally aligned with and generally adjacentto the opposing sides 66 of the frame structure 22′. Once the vehicle 10is aligned over the pit 65, the brake system 52 causes the vehicle 10 tostop. Thus, due to autonomously maneuvering the vehicle 10 over the openpit 65, no attendant is needed and driver misalignment errors areeliminated.

In either of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 3, the driver can be seatedin the vehicle, without operating the steering, acceleration, orbraking, while the controller 47 autonomously drives and stops thevehicle 10 relative to the fixed object 22, 22′, or the driver can beoutside of the vehicle 10. Thus, the driver activate the autonomous modeand can leave the vehicle 10 in a line of vehicles waiting to enter thecarwash or oil change bay. The vehicle 10 would autonomously follow thevehicle in front of it in line. With regard to the carwash mode, oncethe vehicle is stopped and engaged with the conveyor structure 22, thedriver or attendant, or the controller 47 can cause the transmissionsystem 57 to place the vehicle 10 into neutral so the vehicle 10 canmove along with the conveyor structure 22. With regard to the oil changemode, once the vehicle 10 is stopped and aligned over the pit 65, thecontroller 47 causes the transmission system 57 to place the vehicle inpark and turns off the ignition. The controller 47, once activated, canalso cause the vehicle 10 to autonomously drive out of the oil changebay.

Thus, with reference to FIG. 4, method steps for obtaining images of thefixed object from at least one camera 32′ mounted on the vehicle 10includes in step 72, obtaining images of the fixed object from at leastone camera mounted on the vehicle. In step 74, the images 34 arereceived at the controller 47 of the vehicle. In step 76, the images 34are processed by the controller 47 to identify and locate the fixedobject (e.g., conveyor structure 22 or frame structure 22′) with respectto the vehicle 10. In step 78, the controller 47 commands the drivesystem 30 to cause autonomous movement, steering and braking of thevehicle 10 so that the vehicle 10 moves towards the fixed object 22, 22′and stops so as to be aligned relative to the fixed object.

Instead of using the vehicle's user interface 44 as a user input deviceto activate the autonomous modes described herein, the controller 47 caninclude a receiver of transceiver 68 that receives a wireless signalfrom an application of a smartphone 70 (as the user input device) so asto activate the appropriate autonomous mode executed by the controller47.

Thus, unlike known vehicle object avoidance systems that enable thevehicle to avoid objects, the system 12 actually identifies and locatesthe fixed object and moves the vehicle towards the fixed object so as tobe in engagement with the object 22 or to be aligned with or over thefixed object 22′.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here(e.g., processor circuit 58, tracking module 61) can be realized indigital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designedASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware,firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These variousimplementations can include implementation in one or more computerprograms that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmablesystem including at least one programmable processor, which may bespecial or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructionsfrom, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, atleast one input device, and at least one output device.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications, or code) include machine instructions for a programmableprocessor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/orobject-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machinelanguage. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and“computer-readable medium” refer to any computer program product,apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory,Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructionsand/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readablemedium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

Implementations of the subject matter and the functional operationsdescribed in this specification can be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, or in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including thestructures disclosed in this specification and their structuralequivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Moreover,subject matter described in this specification can be implemented as oneor more computer program products, i.e., one or more modules of computerprogram instructions encoded on a computer readable medium for executionby, or to control the operation of, data processing apparatus. Thecomputer readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, amachine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition ofmatter effecting a machine-readable propagated signal, or a combinationof one or more of them. The terms “data processing apparatus”,“computing device” and “computing processor” encompass all apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.The apparatus can include, in addition to hardware, code that creates anexecution environment for the computer program in question, e.g., codethat constitutes processor firmware, a protocol stack, a databasemanagement system, an operating system, or a combination of one or moreof them. A propagated signal is an artificially generated signal, e.g.,a machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagnetic signal thatis generated to encode information for transmission to suitable receiverapparatus.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multi-tasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various systemcomponents in the embodiments described above should not be understoodas requiring such separation in all embodiments, and it should beunderstood that the described program components and systems cangenerally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it willbe understood that various modifications may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for autonomously moving and aligning avehicle with respect to an object fixed to a traveling surface in frontof the vehicle, the system comprising: at least one camera mounted onthe vehicle, constructed and arranged to obtain images of the fixedobject; a controller on the vehicle, constructed and arranged to receivethe images from the camera and to process the images so as to identifyand locate the fixed object with respect to the vehicle; a drive system,connected with the controller, constructed and arranged to causeautonomous movement, steering and braking of the vehicle; and a userinput device constructed and arranged to activate the controller 1) toidentify and locate the fixed object relative to the vehicle, and 2) tocommand the drive system to autonomously move the vehicle towards thefixed object and to stop the vehicle so that the vehicle is alignedrelative to the fixed object, wherein the fixed object is a conveyorstructure of an automated carwash, with the drive system beingconstructed and arranged to autonomously move the vehicle towards theconveyor structure and to stop the vehicle once the vehicle is engagedwith the conveyor structure.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the userinput device comprise a user interface disposed in the vehicle andconnected with the controller.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein thecontroller is activated in response to an input on a touch screendisplay, an input on a knob or switch, or a voice command.
 4. The systemof claim 1, wherein the controller includes a receiver and the userinput device includes a smartphone constructed and arranged to provide awireless signal to the receiver to activate the controller.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the controller includes a tracking module anda processor circuit constructed and arranged to receive the images fromthe at least one camera and determine the location of the fixed imagerelative to the vehicle.
 6. The system of claim 1, further comprising aradar, a sonar or a LIDAR sensor on the vehicle and constructed andarranged to send a signal to the controller for use in locating thefixed object.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the conveyor structurehas markers thereon that are captured by the at least one camera to aidin locating the conveyor structure.
 8. The system of claim 1, whereinthe drive system includes a transmission system, and wherein thecontroller is constructed and arranged to place the vehicle in neutralonce stopped.
 9. A system for autonomously moving and aligning a vehiclewith respect to an object fixed to a traveling surface in front of thevehicle, the system comprising: at least one camera mounted on thevehicle, constructed and arranged to obtain images of the fixed object;a controller on the vehicle, constructed and arranged to receive theimages from the camera and to process the images so as to identify andlocate the fixed object with respect to the vehicle; a drive system,connected with the controller, constructed and arranged to causeautonomous movement, steering and braking of the vehicle; and a userinput device constructed and arranged to activate the controller 1) toidentify and locate the fixed object relative to the vehicle, and 2) tocommand the drive system to autonomously move the vehicle towards thefixed object and to stop the vehicle so that the vehicle is alignedrelative to the fixed object, wherein the fixed object is a framestructure over an open pit of an oil change bay, with the drive systembeing constructed and arranged to autonomously move the vehicle towardsthe frame structure and to stop the vehicle once the vehicle is over theopen pit.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the frame structure hasmarkers thereon that are captured by the at least one camera to aid inlocating the conveyor structure.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein thedrive system includes a transmission system, and wherein the controlleris constructed and arranged to cause the transmission system to placethe vehicle in park once stopped.
 12. A method of autonomously movingand aligning a vehicle with respect to an object fixed to a travelingsurface in front of the vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:obtaining images of the fixed object from at least one camera mounted onthe vehicle; receiving the images at a controller of the vehicle;processing the images by the controller to identify and locate the fixedobject with respect to the vehicle; and commanding, by the controller, adrive system to cause autonomous movement, steering and braking of thevehicle so that the vehicle moves towards the fixed object and stops soas to be aligned relative to the fixed object wherein the fixed objectis a conveyor structure of an automated carwash, and wherein thecommanding step incudes commanding the drive system to autonomously movethe vehicle towards the conveyor structure and to stop the vehicle oncea tire of the vehicle is engaged with the conveyor structure.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the method is initiated by providing a userinput to a user interface disposed in the vehicle and connected with thecontroller.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the method is initiatedby sending a wireless signal from a smartphone to a receiver in thecontroller.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the controller includesa tracking module to receive the images, the method further comprising:determining by the tracking module a pixel position along an x-imageaxis of each image, and a pixel position along a y-image axis of eachimage.
 16. The method of claim 12, wherein the drive system includes atransmission system, and the method further comprises, causing, by thecontroller, the transmission to place the vehicle into neutral so thevehicle can move along with the conveyor structure.
 17. A method ofautonomously moving and aligning a vehicle with respect to an objectfixed to a traveling surface in front of the vehicle, the methodcomprising the steps of: obtaining images of the fixed object from atleast one camera mounted on the vehicle; receiving the images at acontroller of the vehicle; processing the images by the controller toidentify and locate the fixed object with respect to the vehicle; andcommanding, by the controller, a drive system to cause autonomousmovement, steering and braking of the vehicle so that the vehicle movestowards the fixed object and stops so as to be aligned relative to thefixed object; wherein the fixed object is a frame structure over an openpit of an oil change bay, and wherein the commanding step incudescommanding the drive system to autonomously move the vehicle towards theframe structure and to stop the vehicle once the vehicle is aligned overthe open pit.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the drive systemincludes a transmission system, and the method further comprises,causing, by the controller, the transmission to place the vehicle inpark once stopped.